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What You Need To Know About La Course 2017

19 July, 2017

With only a day away, I'm more excited about watching the pro-women race La Course by Le Tour de France than I am about the actual Tour de France. Although this year will look differently than the previous stage in Paris held along the same final circuit on the famed Champs Elysees, having an extra day on the tour is a baby step to what I'm hoping for an extended tour for the future of the women's peloton.

This year, La Course has expanded its format from a criterium held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris to an "innovative" two-day format. They will climb the prestigious Col d'Izoard on stage one on Thursday, July 20, and then will take part in a new time trial format in Marseille, Saturday, July 22, with the riders going off in the order they finished on the mountain.With these new changes, there have been issues rising to the public view that stems from resentment from cycling fans that women's cycling gets the short end of the stick. Sponsorship, visibility, long-term viability are all issues faced by all professional cycling teams, except that the women's teams have it the worse. While the ASO defends it's changes to La Course, we continually find the women's race piggy backing the men's stages with less support.

So why should we care so much about this race? The Tour is the most prestigious race of the year and a has great platform for promoting the women's pro-peloton. There is no denying that women's cycling is underrepresented in the grand scheme of professional cycling. While women's representation in professional cycling is beginning to gradually change, paving the way for media coverage, equal pay, and support of women's cycling still has a long way to go. As fans, we can help change the game.How? A while back, I posted about how we as fans can Support Women's Pro-Cycling with resources on the many ways to help. We are in a great time of progress for women's cycling and can do a little more to help make a difference in the smallest ways. Most importantly, watch the women's race. Whether you're watching on tv, online, or in person, showing our support for the women's race is a big win. Promoting women’s cycling and putting on a great show that will fire up the crowds as much as the people watching at home is really what women's cycling wants to accomplish.How to watch live? Check the listings below and your local listing air time to see how you can watch live and checkPro Women's Cyclingon more ways to watch and engage La Course. According to PWC, if you don’t have access to any of these, there should be streams here, here or here.